Laminate flooring typically consists of layers of different materials that are compressed under heat to form a laminated board. The typical layers are an aluminum oxide containing melamine resin impregnated alfa cellulose paper, a melamine resin impregnated printed decorative paper, a wood fibre based carrier board (HDF) and a melamine resin impregnated balancing paper. Product designs are typically made by embossing the laminated product with a structured plate or paper during the press operation, and by printing the decorative paper with different designs and colors. At typical process conditions the depth of the structuration is typically less than 0.2 mm in order to yield proper looking products. Deeper structures tend to give crazing of the surface due to insufficient pressure in parts of the board area and the limitation of stretching of the paper layers. In order to give an even more natural looking product, the printed paper and the embossed structure can be coordinated giving products that are known in the field as embossed in register (EIR).
Wood Fibre Floor (WFF) is a new type of flooring product, disclosed in WO2009/065769, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference, that includes one or more layers of substantially homogenous powder mixtures that are heat compressed in processes akin to the processes used for making laminate floors. The homogenous powder mixtures typically include fibres such as wood fibres, polymer, such as melamine formaldehyde resin, hard particles, such as aluminum oxide particles and decorative materials, such as pigment particles, minerals and fibres. WFF products have a benefit over laminate floors as no papers with limited stretch capability are present, thus very deep structures can be made without yielding the observed crazing of the surface. While under heated compression the WFF powder mixture is almost liquid like in the sense that the composition flows under pressure to fill out the crevices in the structure.